Jim Kelly, AIB’s Sponsorship Manager, talks about the Bank’s big commitment to golf and about the success of The 2006 Ryder Cup in an article reproduced from Backspin golf magazine (Ireland).
AIB Bank is synonymous with golf in Ireland. When, and in what ways, did the Bank first become involved in golf sponsorship?
JK:In 1996 we were reviewing AIB's sponsorship portfolio. We noticed that golf sponsorship was quite widely spread amongst financial brands and we were also aware that there was some behind the scenes talk about The Ryder Cup coming to Ireland. Accordingly we decided that if the largest golf team event in the World had a chance to come to Ireland then AIB should help bring it here and get involved in this prestigious event. How we went about this was to bring the Seniors Open to Ireland in 1997, the following year we got involved with the European Open and then, as we had a working relationship with The European Tour, we were the obvious choice as a partner for them going forward to The Ryder Cup.
The Bank is a huge supporter of golf on all levels. What key golf sponsorships will the Bank headline during 2007?
JK:At this moment in time we are in negotiation with some new properties and we are reviewing our involvement with existing ones. Our community focused sponsorship strategy dictates that we concentrate on why we sponsor and not what we sponsor, in the first instance. We will be title sponsors of the Irish Seniors Open for the 11th year in 2007.
Seniors golf is one of the huge growth areas in golf and becoming title sponsor of the AIB Irish Seniors Open Championship was an inspired move some years ago. What opportunities does this high profile event create for the Bank?
JK:The Seniors is the oldest part of our golf portfolio but we don't look on it as a stand alone event. At this stage we involve all golf clubs, our own staff and avail of corporate hospitality at the event for customers. It is obviously not as high profile as a main Tour event but it is known as the 'friendly' tour because of the good nature of the professionals that play. So as our policy has always been to move it around the country (to match the bank's retail network) it has become a very popular event for all concerned...staff, customers and the local public. Therefore it is a perfect fit with our community focus.
The Bank’s commitment and expertise contributed significantly to the outstanding success of The 2006 Ryder Cup. What challenges and benefits did the event present for the Bank?
JK:Obviously this topic could be the subject of a whole article in itself but I suppose it is fair to say that any sponsorship agreement that has an eight year lead-in and then runs for a week and finishes poses many challenges. If I was to pick two main challenges I suppose they would have been (a) to build and maintain interest and awareness over a very long period and (b) to break through the advertising clutter that would occur around the event. I believe all the research that has been evidenced to date proves that we overcame both challenges successfully.
With regard to the benefits, our top line objectives were met in that we strongly attached our brand to the event.
We also strengthened our relationship with many customers and we grew our business.
All in all The Ryder Cup experience was an EPIC project to be involved with. We were delighted to bring it to Ireland and our partners Fáilte Ireland, Bord Bia and Waterford Crystal were brilliant co-sponsors.
Can you give our readers some idea of the scale of AIB’s involvement in The 2006 Ryder Cup in terms of the specific workload involved behind the scenes and during the event?
JK:Personally I was involved for the first six years. Two years prior to the event our sponsorship team became far more involved and one year before the event Kathy McGarry was appointed project manager and two other members of our sponsorship team, Brenda Hurley and Rhoda McDonagh, joined her to form a dedicated team.
McConnells, who created our ‘EPIC’ advert, had a large team of professionals handling above the line, below the line and various other promotions.
The Bank also organised the Christy O'Connor Jnr Challenge which required another team led by Ann O'Connor, and our own brand management team handled local PR and internal communications. During The Ryder Cup we added our hospitality team and our bank facilities team. All in all I suppose we had about fifty people working on the event.
How many guests did the Bank entertain during Ryder Cup week and what special events highlighted the Bank’s association with The 2006 Ryder Cup?
JK:Organising this was a huge logistical task which was undertaken by our own internal team. In terms of special events, we organised the Christy O'Connor Challenge provincial finals and a national final at The K Club, a roadshow that travelled the festivals of Ireland throughout the summer giving complimentary pro lessons, Ryder Cup golf classics around the clubs and many competitions both internally and externally. Also, our 'EPIC' trailers parked at major sports events during the year.
What was the atmosphere like in the AIB corporate hospitality suites at The K Club as Europe marched to another famous Ryder Cup victory?
JK:Like most other corporates we bought hospitality all over the course. So as a result our guests were spread across various hospitality suites and the atmosphere was the same everywhere - just phenomenal, from an emotional and a competitive point of view. Somebody asked me about my emotions on the Sunday night. I responded that it was just great to be Irish first and then European.
Aside from event sponsorships, would golf be a significant element in the Bank’s client entertainment, staff incentive and other activities ?
JK:Our sponsorship team in brand management only looks after national sponsorships. Our retail network undertakes customer entertaining at smaller golf events locally and we have a team that represents AIB in Inter-Bank golf competitions, but golf wouldn't feature any more than other hospitality events. Golf is just another sport in our sports portfolio with the Club GAA Championships and the Rugby Community programme being the others. As I mentioned earlier our strategy focuses on why we sponsor and not what we sponsor. We activate our sponsorships under the banner of "Supporting Clubs, Supporting Communities" which is the driving force behind why we sponsor.
What fresh golf sponsorship opportunities might appeal to AIB?
JK:We are involved in various negotiations at the moment so it really wouldn't be appropriate for me to comment on that front. But I believe that there are many brands out there for which a partnership with golf would provide excellent benefits. Aidan Murphy in MSI or John Trainor in Onside Sponsorship would be good touch points if anybody is considering this course of action.
Aside from golf, what other sporting / cultural events / artists does the Bank sponsor?
JK:We have a large portfolio of partnerships. I have mentioned the sports relationship with the GAA and the IRFU. In addition to that we have B2B, Agri, Youth, the Arts and the Environment as other categories. We research all properties / events every year to ensure that they are earning their 'keep' in the portfolio. I should point out that as all sponsorships are essentially based on business objectives they have a finite life. Just because a corporate terminates a sponsorship doesn't mean that the property isn't worth sponsoring, it just means that perhaps the sponsoring company's business objectives have been achieved or changed.
®Reproduced by kind permission of BACKSPIN golf magazine (Ireland).
AIB’S GOLF SPONSORSHIP PORTFOLIO
- 1997 to date:
AIB Irish Seniors Open
* 1998 - 2004:
Official Bank to Smurfit European Open
* 2002 - 2004:
AIB GUI Club of the Year Awards
* 2003 to date:
AIB Irish Amateur Open Championship
* 2005 to date:
Junior Golf Ireland concept
* 2006:
Official Bank to The 2006 Ryder Cup
at The K Club
